That’s some fine art

IC opens 40th season of its Fine Arts Series

Carolbeth True and her Two Times True jazz trio will open the 40th season of Illinois College’s Fine Arts Series with a concert Saturday at IC’s Rammelkamp Chapel.

Carolbeth True and her Two Times True jazz trio will open the 40th season of Illinois College’s Fine Arts Series with a concert Saturday at IC’s Rammelkamp Chapel.

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Carolbeth True and her Two Times True jazz trio will open the 40th season of Illinois College’s Fine Arts Series with a concert Saturday at IC’s Rammelkamp Chapel.

Carolbeth True and her Two Times True jazz trio will open the 40th season of Illinois College’s Fine Arts Series with a concert Saturday at IC’s Rammelkamp Chapel.

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That’s some fine art

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Illinois College’s Fine Arts Series is celebrating its 40th anniversary this season with a blend of old and new features that both honor the past and look ahead to the future, according to series organizer Garrett Allman.

“I tried to bring back several of the most popular artists we’ve had in the past to help us celebrate the 40th,” Allman said. “… Five of the six headliners on the series have been here before or have some connection to IC. The only new one is the last one. We’ll end the season with a new group, looking forward to the future.”

The series gets off to a quick start Saturday with a performance by St. Louis-based jazz pianist Carolbeth True’s Two by True jazz trio and soprano Debby Nelson.

“Carolbeth is one of the ideal ones” to bring back, Allman said, citing her talent and her popularity with Jacksonville audiences. “… She’s highly respected in the music world and down there in St. Louis.”

True has performed “three or four times” with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, for which Allman serves as music director and conductor, and also has visited with her jazz trio several times, Allman said.

“She’s very familiar with the Jacksonville community,” he said.

Her trio’s name is a play on the fact that her son, Dave True, is the trio’s drummer.

“David is a very artistic drummer,” Allman said. “He plays very sensitively, just beautifully. He’s a real percussionist, a real artist. As is their bass player, Glen Smith.”

As for Nelson, “she’s a fireball on stage,” Allman said, adding that she’s “super talented”. “Debby just has a way of (winning over) the crowd and grabbing their attention.”

Along with her strictly musical performances, Nelson also has performed a couple of one-woman shows in the St. Louis area, including one in which she portrays Cole Porter’s wife, Allman said.

That concert will be at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at IC’s Rammelkamp Chapel.

A new feature of the series is its two Family Night performances, which have an earlier, weeknight start time and lower ticket price.

The first one, “Tales After Dark,” will feature three master storytellers — including IC alumnus Mike Anderson of Jacksonville, Dan Keding of Urbana and Bobby Norfolk of St. Louis — at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 23.

“They will each be at a different location on campus,” Allman said. “We’ll divide the audience into thirds and the audience will move from location to location for 20-minute stories” at each.

If the weather cooperates, the hope is to have some of the storytelling sites outdoors, he said.

The second Family Night program will be at 6:30 p.m. March 25 inside IC’s Sibert Theatre. Looking at “The Roots of Rural Music,” the program will feature singer-songwriter-folk musician Chris Vallillo as he traces the songs of rural America from the pioneers through steamboats, trains and early radio. He will play vintage instruments during the program.

“Christine Brewer is one of the world’s great operatic sopranos,” Allman said, noting that she was raised and continues to live in a small town in Illinois. “There are no pretenses. … It’s really refreshing to see someone with so much talent” be so down to earth.

• “Bradbury by Bradbury” is a collection of one-act plays written by playwright and IC alumnus Ken Bradbury that chronicle the journal of faith. Bradbury, who died in 2018, wrote the play for IC and it premiered in November 1999. The play will have performances at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 7-8 and at 2 p.m. Nov. 9-10 at Sibert Theatre. Large audiences are expected and season ticket holders should call early to reserve their tickets for a specific performance.

“The series is primarily a music series,” Allman said. “But, historically, we’ve had a theatrical event many of the seasons. Ken was a logical choice. He was on our board the last several years and he was always very supportive of anything going on in the arts. It fit in with our 40th season of bringing back people.

“Unfortunately, in this case, we can’t bring him back, but we can bring back one of his shows. He wrote this show for Illinois College and we thought this was a good way to honor him.”

• Khasma Piano Duo will be in concert at 3 p.m. Feb. 9 in Rammelkamp. Pianists Ashlee Mack and Katherine Palumbo have gained a national reputation for their performances, which are dedicated to showcasing contemporary music. They have premiered piano duets by several notable living composers. This show will feature music by Boulez, Debussy and Messiaen.

• Organist Stephen Tharp, also an IC alumnus, will be in concert at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 21 at Rammelkamp.

“Stephen has become, and this is no exaggeration, one of the great organ virtuosos in the world,” Allman said. “He just finished a concert tour of Europe. It’s the 58th time he’s done a tour over there. He’s only 40-something … if you did the math, he’s been there quite a bit. (Getting him for the series) was a no-brainer.”

• The Stan Kenton Legacy Orchestra will perform at 7:30 p.m. April 24 at Rammelkamp. The “legacy” orchestra — actually a big band — includes alumni from the Stan Kenton orchestras of 1956 to 1978, along with new young members, performing music of the Stan Kenton Orchestra, new material written in the Kenton style and music written by members of the band.

Also part of the Fine Arts Series will be a Death by Chocolate fundraiser. That open house-style event, featuring a range of chocolate treats to enjoy while listening to music by the Rob Killam Trio, will be from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Sept. 29 at IC’s Barnes House on campus. Tickets, which are $20 — including for students — are not part of the season ticket package.